Was It Worth It?

By Dr. Myron Kuropas

More and more of late, I hear Ukrainian complaints on both sides of the border: “We’ve wasted twenty years worrying about Ukraine and so what? We should have focused on our needs here, not there.”

Ask yourself, dear reader, was it worth it?  Absolutely!  Ukraine has changed for the better in the past twenty years, and many people in North American played a role. 

Ukrainians here have raised money for the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, and for the National Universities of Mohyla and Ostroh Academies.   The CUPP program, administered by Ihor Bardyn, has brought hundreds of undergraduates from Ukraine to work as parliamentary interns in Canada giving them a unique opportunity to experience first-hand how a nation prospers when the rule of law reigns.  In the United States, Dr. Bohdan Oryshkevich developed USA/USA, an academic program which places outstanding Ukrainian graduate students in prestigious universities in the United States.  Last year alone, Ukrainian students were able to gain over one million dollars in scholarships.  “I estimate that every one of our Ukrainians who returns to Ukraine will be worth a hundred local graduates,” says Dr. Oryshkevich.

Thousands have been raised for other institutions and causes as well: orphanages, libraries, cultural centres, even for baseball teams in Ukraine.  All of these efforts have had an impact, not a huge one, but one that will ultimately make a significant difference in Ukraine’s future. We’ve done our part over there.

But what about our future over here, you ask.  Haven’t we neglected North America for twenty years?  Not exactly.  In the year 1998, Dr. Bohdan Vitvitsky of New Jersey organized a conference titled “The Year 2020” which focused on the future of Ukrainian Americans.  In his opening remarks, Bohdan outlined the three basic attitudes prevalent in our communities.  First was the “automatic pilot” perspective.  “We’ve been doing it this way for years, so why change”.  The second perspective belonged to those who believe that the sole purpose of our community was to defend Ukraine.  Since Ukraine was moving towards independence, we have no need to worry about our future here any more. “I’ve done my part.  I’m tired.  Leave me alone”. The third point of view, according to Dr. Vitvitsky, was that of the gloom and doom crowd which believes we can’t win.  “Assimilation is inevitable, so why fight it”.  All three points were a rationalization, of course, for doing nothing.  The conferences were well attended but then... neecho!  We Ukrainian Americans are good at addressing problems in our community. We’re awful at following through. 

The same seems to be true of Ukrainians in Canada.  In the same year that Dr. Vitvitsky organized his conferences in New Jersey and Chicago, Professor Jaroslav Rozumnyj delivered a paper at the annual Ukrainian Studies conference at the University of Illinois titled “Prospects of the Ukrainian Diaspora in Canada.”  It was brilliant.  “The spiritual life of the emigration depends on how it is predicated on its own cultural tradition and its own contribution to the nation in which it finds itself, how successful it is in ridding itself of its “immigrant” mind-set,  and its ability to develop a feeling of partnership with the new homeland” he said. It is in achieving the latter goal that Ukrainian Canadians have had marvelous success, stated the venerable academic.  The cultural tradition has been well maintained at the university level – Alberta, Toronto, Ottawa - Professor Rozumnyj concluded, but increasingly neglected at the elementary and high school level.  In Winnipeg, for example, Ukrainian Saturday Schools have either been eliminated or consolidated. 

Professor Rozumnyj mentioned the enormous success of the Jewish and Italian communities in Winnipeg to re-invent themselves.  If they can do it, so can we, he said.  He then suggested a Ukrainian “task force” to address the problem. Was it ever formed?  I called Professor Rozumnyj last week and he admitted, quite sadly, that the answer is no. 

So what now?  Is it too late?  No.  We still have time, not much time, but time enough to do what needs to be done.  We can still re-invent ourselves.  But how, you ask?  It would be nice if the initiative would come from the Ukrainian World Congress but that may prove to be too cumbersome.   Perhaps a good way to begin would be to have the editors of “Noviy Shliakh” – The New Pathway, a prestigious publication soon to formally celebrate its 80^th anniversary, to begin a series of articles that would “drum up” interest, as it were, on this crucial topic.  It’s a small beginning that could start the ball rolling.

There are many people in North America who have a vested interest in our future - community activists, priests, historians, sociologists, Saturday School teachers, columnists, and patriotic parents.  Let’s hear from you.  Ukraine will take care of itself.  It’s time to focus on us, on our own backyard, on our children and grandchildren.  Send me an e-mail and let’s start the conversation – kuropas@comcast.net.